Bhuvneshwar Kumar Gets Ex-Captain's Backing For India Return: 'What Is His Age?'

Former India batter and captain Virender Sehwag has backed Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a return to the national team. The right-arm quick last played for India in 2022 but now, at the age of 36, is making waves in the IPL with his elite performances.

As of Friday (May 1), he’s the Purple Cap holder with 17 wickets in nine matches at an average of 15.52 and an economy rate of 7.54. He has been effective in every phase, finding enough swing in the powerplay and holding his own in the death despite lacking in pace and zip compared to his peers.

For Sehwag, the biggest attraction was getting Bhuvneshwar back on the pitch with Jasprit Bumrah. For a few years, the partnership was quite successful across format.

“Bhuvneshwar

Kumar seems to be the best bowler in this lot,” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz. “He has taken 2-3 wickets in the match; even today, he took 3 wickets and made the match for RCB (against Gujarat Titans). Sometimes I think, what is his age? If he is 35-36 years old, so what? If he is producing big performances, he should think about his comeback in the T20 format, or the selectors should. Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar used to have a combination; can they make that combination again? He bowls well with both new and old balls,” he added.

“I could see the sharpness in his game. He is playing against the top batters. It’s not like he is playing well against one or two good teams; he is playing against all the strong teams. I enjoyed watching him play.”

It won’t be easy to break into India’s T20I squad. Although Bhuvneshwar’s IPL performances have been better than the likes of Arshdeep and even Bumrah, the latter are still two-time T20 World Cup champions.

The selectors would be wary of tinkering with the winning combinations though there could be a temptation to try him in the Ireland and Afghanistan series to give a break to Bumrah.